Two Kensington teenage brothers identified as gang members are expected to serve 30 years in prison after they were sentenced Tuesday for the 2022 murder in Germantown of Taon Lamont Cline, 20, of Frederick.
In separate hearings, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl McCally sentenced Malik Hney, now 17, and Malachi Hney, now 18, to life in prison, suspending all but 30 years, and five years of supervised probation upon release after a jury convicted them on Oct. 3 of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
During the hearing for Malik Hney, which was held first, McCally explained her decision to give him a life sentence, saying he possessed one of the most extensive juvenile records she has ever seen and that she had seen more than 600 exhibits showcasing Hney’s obsession with guns and violence.
She also noted that Hney threatened the victim’s family after the verdict was announced, telling them he was going to kill them, according to a video presented during the sentencing hearing.
McCally recommended that both brothers be admitted to the Patuxent Youthful Offenders program while incarcerated. The program at the Patuxent Institute, a maximum-security correctional facility, provides “assessment, stabilization, and transition services to offenders within the department who have serious mental illness,” according to its website.
During the sentencing hearings, the judge noted that both brothers had numerous infractions while in jail after being charged, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
“I want to salute Judge McCally. I think the sentence was well called for,” State’s Attorney John McCarthy said in a press conference after the sentencing for Malik Hney. “She talked about not only the premeditated nature of what he had done, she talked about the kinds of continuing activities that he was involved in since he’s been incarcerated.”
Before McCally handed down her sentence, Richard Finci, Malik Hney’s attorney, explained that his client’s outburst was an emotional reaction to the news that he had been convicted.
“I apologize to the victim’s family for my outburst,” Hney said during the sentencing hearing.
However, Assistant State’s Attorney Teresa Casafranca said the outburst was reflective of who Hney is when he wasn’t being coached on what to do and how to act.
“That’s his true personality,” Casafranca said during the sentencing.
On April 22, 2022, the Hney brothers and two others, who are all gang members, were involved in the shooting of Cline, who was a rival gang member, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
The other co-defendants include a juvenile (MoCo360 generally does not identify juveniles accused of crimes) and Daylon Miller, now 19, who is scheduled for trial in May 2024, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
Cline was shot in the back outside a Germantown apartment complex at the 19000 block of Gunners Branch Road because he was in an area that the rival gang said he was not allowed to be in, Casafranca said.
According to the charging documents, Cline received threatening messages on Instagram warning him to stay away from the Fox Chapel neighborhood where the shooting later took place and threatened him if he were to go there.
During the sentencing hearing, Cline’s family members spoke about how his death has affected them.
“It’s a constant heartache every single day. I feel so alone without him,” Cline’s sister Imani Wilson said while another sister Janita Grady said that “he still had a whole life to live” when he was killed.
Casafranca argued that Malik Hney should receive a decades-long prison sentence because of his extensive history of violence and disobeying rules.
She said he had compiled an “overwhelming” disciplinary record while in school, including several expulsions, and during his time in the county’s correctional facility over the past two years, he committed 17 documented infractions. Hney fought with other inmates, threatened to kill correctional officers and was found possessing a weapon in jail, she said.
She also said that a manifesto was found during a strip search at the jail that indicated that Hney sought to join the Bloods, another gang. Casafranca said that the discovery, along with social media posts that indicated his obsession with guns, shows that he is a danger to the public.
Finci countered that the state’s recommended sentence was “extreme” and “outrageous” and that his client would benefit from mental health treatment.
After the sentencing, McCarthy said the state’s Department of Juvenile Services failed Hney and has failed others like him due to inefficiencies and lack of resources.
“The juvenile justice system and the services provided for children in the state of Maryland are not adequate,” McCarthy said.